“What will the Sherwoods say?” someone else wonders. “They must be so devastated that their daughter is dating the dad she babysits for!” I cringe again, trying not to think on that question too much as I stare into the crowd, looking for my parents. They must have left because I don’t see them. But finally, the most ridiculous comment is uttered.
“You should be ashamed of yourself!” a man growls from the front, looking with disgust at my handsome boyfriend. “She’s your daughter’s age. I hope my daughter never meets a fucking pig like you.”
I roll my eyes because of course, June is just a small girl so that remark is totally off base. But before I can correct him, Tommy suddenly stands up and whistles loudly to get the crowd’s attention. I whip around, surprised. What could Tommy possibly have to say in all of this?
Even worse, the teenage boy looks crazy. I don’t know what it is, but there’s a insane look in his eyes and my heart sinks with dread.
“She’s lying!” Tommy bellows to the audience, his face going red. “Natalie’s not pregnant by Morgan Aston because she’s having MY baby! I’m the one who got her pregnant because these old dudes are so fucking elderly that they have low sperm counts! There’s no way they could have impregnated her. It was ME.” My eyes widen, and I’m shaking my head with shock because WTF? Tommy and I have never even had penetrative sex, so this is utterly insane.
The room explodes into complete pandemonium then, and people are surrounding Tommy to ask him all kinds of questions about me.
“It’s true!” he exclaims with utter conviction. “Natalie and I were in a relationship before she and Morgan got together. And yes, I think the two relationships overlapped because Natalie’s a slut that way. But I’m not a man who shirks his responsibilities because I want to be a part of my child’s life. That’s my baby she’s carrying,” the teenage boy says fervently. OMG, does Tommy actually believe his own shit? It seems like he’s living in this moment, soaking up the attention and notoriety. Even crazier, it doesn’t seem to matter that everything he’s saying is a lie. The crowd is eating up the scandal while I watch in stunned shock.
But then my boyfriend reaches me, and immediately, I turn to bury my face in his broad chest.
“It isn’t true!” I whisper in a broken voice. “This baby is yours.”
Morgan kisses the crown of my head before guiding me through the throng of people, using his arm as both a sword and shield from the rioting masses.
“I know, baby,” he says in a low tone. “We’ve just gotten caught up in a web of lies. But we’ll figure it out.”
Then, he throws open the auditorium door and pulls me into the parking lot where I begin to cry hysterically. What the hell just happened? It seems that my life has taken a left turn, and that I’m worse off than where I started.
11
Morgan
What the fuck is Tommy’s problem? I didn’t recognize the teen boy at first but when he stood up and began spewing lies, suddenly, I realized that he was the shadowy figure I saw leaving my house months ago. He’s the one who left Natalie’s bottom coated with semen, and I’m furious. Not just that he touched my woman, but that he’s baldly lying and loving the attention it gets him.
“It must be because he’s part of Gen Z,” I rasp with anger while walking Natalie to the car. “What else could it be? That generation is filled with Tiktok money-grubbing asshats who think that all publicity is good publicity.”
Natalie sobs as she gets into the car.
“Yes, but it’s more than that. It’s all lies!” she cries. “Why would Tommy even say that this is his child?”
I get into the driver’s side and take a deep breath. I need to calm down because Tommy’s claims are nothing. In fact, the teen boy is nothing to me, and Fred Walsh can take care of himself, so we’re good. At the moment, my only concern is Natalie and the baby she carries in her belly. To hell with what everyone says or thinks because they can go screw themselves. But Natalie looks utterly broken at the moment, and I have to do something. I pull her hand gently towards me and place a gentle kiss on her wrist.
“I know Tommy was lying,” I say in a soothing tone. “Trust me, that boy’s a dipshit and I know the baby’s mine.”
She raises tearful eyes to look at me.
“You do?”
I nod.
“Yes, and I couldn’t be happier sweetheart. I’m over the moon with the knowledge that you’re pregnant with our child. You’ll be a wonderful mommy.”
Her eyes well up with tears again, but this time I can tell they’re happy tears as she sobs once more.